House Panel To Consider Bill Preserving Great Lakes Cleanup

Congressional budget writers are proposing to overrule President Donald Trump’s call for eliminating a program that funds Great Lakes cleanup efforts.

A House appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to consider a bill Wednesday that includes $300 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The program started under President Barack Obama. It pays for removing toxic pollution from harbors and river mouths, restoring wetlands, fighting invasive species and preventing harmful algae outbreaks.

The program enjoys widespread bipartisan support in the eight states adjoining the Great Lakes.

Trump’s spending plan for 2018 recommends killing the program and others that support regional environmental cleanups.

Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan said Tuesday the proposed legislation is a first step toward preserving the program.

Doctors, parents and others involved in female genital mutilation in Michigan will face up to 15 years in prison under new laws signed Tuesday that were sparked by an ongoing criminal case involving six young girls.

The attorney general on Thursday called for shutting down twin oil pipelines beneath the waterway where Lakes Huron and Michigan meet, as the state released a consultant’s report outlining alternative scenarios for the future of oil transport in the ecologically sensitive tourist destination.